Grupo de Discusin de Bioseguridad GEF 251104 Rolf

Grupo de Discusión de Bioseguridad, GEF 25/11/04 Rolf Immler Ética

ÉTICA (lat. ethicum) Parte teórica de la valoración moral de los actos humanos. (SIN. : Moral = Conjunto de reglas de conducta propuestas por una determinada doctrina o inherentes a una determinada condición) Conjunto de principios y normas morales que regulan las actividades humanas. Diccionario enciclopédico Larousse 2002

ÉTICA El cometido específico de la ética es el estudio de una dimensión particular dentro de la realidad humana: la referida a la actividad libre, o sea, a la conducta responsable e imputable. Responsabilidad e imputabilidad son conceptos íntimamente conexos. La primera es una característica propia del obrar humano, la segunda, una calificación de las acciones humanas consecuencia de la anterior.

¿Hay solamente una ética? Bioética: La ética para asuntos del área de la biología. “Genethics”: No es nada más que un juego de palabras muy atractivo.

La relevancia de los aspectos éticos habitualmente presentes en las decisiones científicas es un hecho real de trascendencia en el ámbito del ejercicio profesional. Hay que recordar que la ética pertenece al conjunto grande de ciencias catalogadas globalmente bajo la denominación de "antropológicas", las que tienen como sujeto de su análisis al hombre en cuanto tal, con la diferencia de considerar cada una de ellas con su propio método, un aspecto diverso en dicho sujeto.

The field of bioethics emerged over thirty years ago. It provides a practical language for mediating between developments in science and popular culture and a means for our society to talk about its deepest moral concerns, fears and hopes. This languageis employed to promote scholarly and public understanding of the ethical, legal, social and public policy implications of advances in the life sciences and medicine. It fosters informed dialogue about these issues across a broad spectrum of opinion --- so that not only are the right questions addressed, but that the answers given rest upon solid facts and cogent arguments. (Univ. of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, Dept. of Medical Ethics)

Malentendidosn ó i c a p u c o o e ed r P Mi Desinformac ión

“Virtually everything good that you've heard about biotechnology is true. It's making inroads against killers such as cancer, heart disease, and stroke. It's stopping other diseases for which until recently the best treatment was an aspirin. Biotech crops will provide malnourished peoples with enough calories to turn them into American-sized butterballs. But to many, biotech has a dark side. They fear cloning humans to rip out their organs as replacements, turning our offspring into ”Uebermenschen”, and distorting the whole concept of what it is to be human. ” Michael Fumento (2004) Senior fellow at the Hudson Institute in Washington, DC, author of “Bio. Evolution: How Biotechnology Is Changing Our World. ” (2003)

¡No solamente los críticos son bioéticos!

“Leading bioethicists are currently expressing serious reservations about long-term ethical and social consequences of various research initiatives in biotechnology. ” “If critics …. . focus on only worst-case scenarios and extreme developments, important research … …might be curtailed. ” “Generating public controversy by focusing primarily on the dangers of …. . risks undermining research that might play an important role in …. . (resolving problems). ” Turner 2004

“Admittedly, we should recognize that incremental scientific advances could eventually lead to significant changes in human experience. Furthermore, developments in biomedical research are unpredictable. But humans are capable of adapting to changing circumstances. ” Turner 2004

“Thoughtful ethical analysis of contemporary biomedical (biotechnological) research ought to avoid philosophical and rhetorical excesses. We need more temperate discussion of current developments in biotechnology. ” “We need more temperate commentary on the potential ethical, social and legal ramifications of research. ” “We need more temperate commentary from bioethicists: we need to challenge the hyperbole of utopian and dystopian thinkers and examine more carefully the benefits and burdens that … …interventions are likely to generate. ” Turner 2004

We are dealing less with an increasing irrational hostility to technology than with a decreasing (irrational too) faith in technology.

“What can ethics, or moral philosophy, contribute here? Philosophers disagree about the precise scope, function and methodology of ethics, but many (including myself) would argue that ethics cannot provide conclusive answers or proof about what is right or wrong to do in particular situations. The role of ethics is rather to analyze and clarify our everyday moral beliefs and intuitions, turning a critical spotlight upon them by asking the two simple-sounding questions which have lain at the heart of philosophy since Socrates: What do you mean? How do you know? Dr. Roger Straughan (1995) Reader in Education, University of Reading, UK

Los tres criterios para el manejo razonable de la biotecnología S. E. L. LE CA ÉTI U G SE D A D I R G IS LA CI Ó N

Dr. Rolf M. Immler